A few weeks ago, my friend Steve left a cryptic message on my voice mail.

He needed to know where to buy a suit, cheap – not to be confused with a cheap suit.

Now Steve is a stylish guy. Even more so since he met his girlfriend, but that’s another column altogether. So I was a bit confused why he needed my advice. When I called him back, he filled me in.

Steve works at the University of Maine, and a colleague in the Upward Bound program had a challenge. One of her advisees, Ben Reed, had received $200 in donations from faculty, staff and students at Waterville High School. The money was intended to purchase a suit to see Ben through his prom, graduation and his next four years at Bates College, where he received a substantial scholarship.

Ben is an honors student with “an incredible drive to be successful,” said his UB adviser, Lynn Ploof-Davis, who is based at UMaine Farmington. “What he has achieved has largely been through his own intellect and creativity.”

He’s involved in – I’m not kidding – 26 extracurricular activities, and he’s taken advanced placement courses through his entire high school career. He’s funny and smart and sweet as can be. But he also had a challenging childhood and has lived away from home since last fall. To make a long story short, if anyone deserved that $200, Ben did.

Thing is, I looked high and low, and even I couldn’t find him a suit, shirt, tie, shoes and belt for $200. Well, let me take that back. I couldn’t get him a suit that he’d want to wear for that much, let alone accessories. I asked my editor if we could chip in with a shirt and tie. She agreed. But that still left us quite short. Then, at the last minute, a very kind donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, stepped forward to cover the difference.

I caught up with Ben and Lynn last week at Filene’s, which has a wide selection of suits for men of all ages – even 17.

Ben is a rarity, especially among guys his age. He knows his own style – a blend of preppy and urban chic – and he’s not afraid to show it. Lynn initially suggested the dress slacks and sport coat look, which he immediately nixed. When Lynn urged him to try a gray suit, Ben politely, but firmly, refused. Too conservative (and, truth be told, a bit too old for a high school student).

“Something about dark on top and tan on the bottom drives me insane,” Ben said. “Matching colors look better to me. I know what I like and I know what I don’t like, but there’s a lot of in-between.”

Filene’s menswear associate Herb Jordan had plenty of advice – and he agreed with Ben. If you don’t like the color, you’ll find a dozen excuses not to wear the suit, no matter how nice it is.

Jordan recommended suit components – the men’s version of separates – rather than a full suit. By buying the jacket and pants individually, men can replace a worn-out item without having to purchase a whole new suit. And it saves on tailoring because each piece is sized to fit.

“The beauty of these is that every man from the pope down the line to the low man on the totem pole wears the pants more often than the jacket,” Jordan explained. “If you wear out the pants, you can buy a new pair.”

When Ben emerged from the dressing room for the first time, the fit was a bit off.

“You’ve got big thighs,” Jordan said. Then he turned to me. “I don’t say that to women.”

Good call.

But Ben was a sport, and he tried on the next size. The next time was a charm, though it took a little getting used-to, because dress slacks fit a little more snugly than casual khakis.

“He looks good,” Jordan said, sizing up the navy blue Nautica suit, which, incidentally, was on sale. “It fits well – you’re in good shape.”

Next, it was off to pick out a shirt and tie, with the help of sales associate Janet Cordeiro. I had a white shirt with a lime and navy striped tie in mind. Ben definitely had other ideas. He wanted shiny – Regis Philbin-style shiny – for both. And he wanted red. I feared he’d look like a politician and urged him to pick out an off-white shirt. He relented, and we headed back to the fitting room. Not surprisingly, he was right on with the red, and the Regis.

“I’m a big fan of shiny,” Ben said, laughing. “It looks nice.”

He likes shiny when it comes to shoes, too. Ben immediately gravitated toward a pair of black Skechers, but when he tried them on with the suit, he didn’t care for the way the loafers made it look like he had “duck feet.” He didn’t want anything with stitching or tassels on it either, which narrowed our options considerably. But he finally found a pair of Bass lace-ups – conservative, but not too – that were just right.

When he headed back to the dressing room to change into his street clothes, Ben was beaming. I was happy to finally be able to use my shopping powers for good (and not just a good bargain). And Lynn felt like a proud parent who was about to send her oldest son off to college.

“I am, I’m in tears,” Lynn said, smiling, when Ben retreated to the dressing room one last time. “This will be something he’ll remember.”

ShopGirl would love to hear from you! Send questions, comments or suggestions by e-mail to: kandresen@bangordailynews.net, by U.S. mail to: Kristen Andresen, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402-1329, or by fax to: 941-9476.

Well-suited

Herb Jordan and Amy Leavitt of Filene’s offer the following tips for men buying a suit:

. Don’t buy a suit if you don’t like its color.

. The cuffs of your jacket should hit the point between the heel of your hand and the knuckle on your thumb that is closest to your wrist.

. If you tend to wear the pants of a suit more than the jacket, buy components rather than a full suit.

. Components can eliminate the need for tailoring.

. To see if your jacket is the right length, hold your arms at your sides and curl in your fingers. It should hit your fingertips.

. Your jacket should be a bit slack between the shoulders. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to lift up your arm to drive a car, have lunch, or drink a martini,” Jordan says. Or, in Ben’s case, a Pepsi.

. Your belt and shoes should match.

. If you wear a watch, the metal of your belt buckle should match the tone of your watch.